[hr][hr] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/uXQ6Umg.jpg[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/QDRaQkR.jpg[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/81YYMlk.jpg[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/n2vhLDJ.jpg[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/VN68oVo.jpg[/img] [hr][hr] Faint mists played all around Bunny as the veil grew so thin that it had begun intruding on the world of the living. This was not the first time she had ever been here and because of that not afraid of the chill she felt pass through her body as she increased her conductivity then she seemed to become almost transparent as she walked towards a set of stairs leading to nowhere the crystal pendulum tugging on it’s chain like and eager dog. The spell was so powerful here that she was soon in a trance as she mounted the stairs and began climb them slowly in soft measured steps. At the top of the flight a shimmering line of silver light began tracing the outlines of a door that had till then remained hidden and once it was completed she stepped through it and into a hidden place within the Mystery House not seen since the year of the Quake. ([url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b7/16/3c/b7163cd5bdb68b3771c0328966ea5d04.jpg]The Lost Hall[/url]) The hall stood as a strange connection between the present day and that long ago year 1906 when the area had become the greatest natural disaster on american soil and still showed signs of that day’s abuse. [color=dodgerblue]This house is connected with the other world just not quite like………[/color] said Bunny before she was abruptly cut off by a spirit that boiled around her seeking a chink in her necromantic wards. [hr][hr] As Zara's protection spell enveloped the group, Emory scanned back through the clouds of memories he held darkly. [color=silver]"We need to find Bunny and Florian, once we do that, we can end this...I think"[/color] Holding up his wand, he followed the light with an incantation on his breath. They had to be careful, this house could throw anything at them before they got to the dynamic duo. Passing over a damp piece of floor, the Welsh wizard thought listening to the silence throughout the building. It was a large place of unimaginable terror yet there was no sound. Zara's thoughts not shared, he did not need to be a mind reader to understand. Vespa's parents were dead and so too probably was the Butler at this point. The place was a hot bed of evil, with the activity ramping up lately, why? He had no doubt that it was tied to the little girl. Ascending the stairs, Emory followed his wand to a closed door, an extreme light peering beneath it's frame. [color=silver]"Be ready girls"[/color] He looked across his three companions. He held on to Zara's hand as Nickie comforted Vespa. Reaching for the handle he exhaled whay could potentially be his last breath before opening up the oak door. Gazing upon his two compatriots there was a relaxed sigh of relief as the protection spell ended. [color=silver]"Velvet, Florian. Things just got interesting"[/color] [hr][hr] Bunny looked at Emory as he and the others entered and exclaimed how interesting things had become his added presence and the rest of the team discouraging the spirit which was surrounding her to flee and seek better options. [color=dodgerblue]That I believe is an understatement my dear Emory[/color] answered Velvet with an amused smile as she let the seeker spell fall away for the moment. Then she stopped smiling as she noticed something dark following the others that made the spirit that had been assaulting her seem inconsequential and explain its presence here; it had been drawn by the hidden menace. [color=dodgerblue]”Something Wicked This Way Comes”[/color] she said quoting Ray Bradbury as she prepared her mind for potential battle [hr][hr] [color=silver]"I have a theory on what we're dealing with"[/color] Emory said as he forced closed the door behind him once all of the girls were in the room. [color=silver]"I think what it is, is a Sluagh. Sluagh are said to be the spirits of people so evil, that Hell rejected them. The Sluagh come in from the west like a flock of birds, which would explain all the west facing windows. They try to find a house where a person is dying. They will try to snatch the soul of the dying person. The strong smell clover, the restless spirits in this house...it all fits"[/color] Emory had dealt with a Sluagh only once before, during one of his first cases as a Regulator five years ago. They were terrifying creatures, corrupted souls bent on claiming the spirits of others. In folklore they were often considered to be the attack dogs of the Wild Hunt. Emory and Arthur, along with some long since dead colleague's confronted several of these monsters at a house in Bray. There was only one sure fire way he knew how to get rid of a Sluagh and it wasn't pretty. He glanced over to the cowering Vespa, a girl who only hours ago lead a regular life but who had now been forced to endure unimaginable things like monsters and magic. It was then that something clicked within the charms master's brain. [color=silver]"Of course, Sarah Winchester"[/color] He ran his hand through his hair and looked at the group. [color=silver]”Sluagh come for dying people. Sarah claimed that she was haunted by those killed by Winchester rifles…if you were her, you’d be scared of dying, facing the wrath of the dead…makes sense to become something that devours the souls of the dead…Sarah became the Sluagh, taking souls and consuming them, building her strength so that she can escape”[/color] [hr][hr] “Sluagh” the dark souls of the hunt? Thought Bunny as she looked into her memory to find the information she’d learned in Ghoul Studies at Hogwarts. [center][color=dodgerblue]And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door; And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming, And the lamplight o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted nevermore[/color][/center] she whispered as mnemonic of her lessons to recall all she knew of the horrid creatures. In muggle folklore the only way to avoid becoming the prey of the hunt was to offer the life of another but she was happily no muggle and had other options and planned on using them. She reached into her bag and drew out two items the first a feather from a raven of the tower of London that shown blue/black and glossy as she held it in her right palm as in the palm of that same hand she held a shiny black button that was the fetter of her uncle Tony and pulled from his jacket the night the storm tried to claim her as it had all her loved ones on the boat. [color=dodgerblue]Nasty creatures[/color] was all she said as she loaded into her thoughts the three spells she might need if they tried to rush her. [hr][hr] [color=silver]"It makes sense to keep Vespa alive too....she'd use her as a host. Someone of the same bloodline"[/color] Emory turned his gaze away from the child and looked towards the rest of his group. They had to end the haunting of the Winchester House and they had to do it soon. They couldn't leave, not until the job was done. They could walk out the front door, hurry away like thiefs in the night and leave the Sluagh to torture more victims...they could do that or they could use the slim chance they had now and finally end it's miserable existence. He glanced over at what was once a hidden hallway witch Bunny and Florian had uncovered. Why was it hidden? More than likely at the end of that corridor was where the real evil and the real magic took place, the rest of the house was a show created by Sarah Winchester to trick the spirits within. [color=silver]"Shall we?"[/color][/center] [hr][hr]